Central Coast California

Cambria

California Beach Town in San Luis Obispo County off the CA-1

Cambria is a beautiful beach town located in the northern part of San Luis Obispo (SLO) County. Their famous beach, Moonstone Beach, is a quieter beach compared to other SLO beaches like Pismo Beach, Oceano, Grover Beach, Avila Beach and Morro Bay. During the fall season, Cambria is very festive with scarecrows lining up the streets in October (click here to jump to the Scarecrows in Cambria section) and the Cambria Christmas Market for November and December.

More famously, the Cambria Christmas Market in the winter attracts many to visit Cambria. Here is a short video of my visit at Cambria Christmas Market below.


The Cambria Christmas Markets opens between Thanksgiving weekend through Dec 23rd every year. It is a ticketed event. However, if you decide to do a lodge stay at the Cambria Pines Lodge within that timeframe, it would also include entry to the lights too. The Cambria Christmas Market is located on the Cambria Pines Lodge property. 

A couple of original photos that I took of Moonstone Beach in Cambria were shared by Highway 1 Roadtrip's instagram and credited me @sanluisobispomom. On this post link above, they included my photos and received over 900 likes! You can visit my instagram to see more recent beach pictures and reels that I took in San Luis Obispo County.

Moonstone Beach in Cambria
Walking Along Moonstone Beach Cambria

Moonstone Beach in Cambria

The most popular thing to do in Cambria is walk along the Moonstone Beach and take in the views.

There is not a lot of shops that are conveniently right there at Moonstone Beach like you would see at Pismo Beach so I recommend getting coffee to-go somewhere before getting in the car to head to Moonstone Beach so you can bring along a cup of joe and enjoy the peaceful ocean waves. Here's instagram reel from my visit to Cambria's San Simeon State Parkand Moonstone Beach. You can also pack a picnic to bring along to enjoy. There are benches you can sit on.

Depending on the weather, it can get windy. Bring a windbreaker jacket!

Scarecrows in Cambria in October

For the entire month of October, creative scarecrows created by different artists line up the streets of Cambria. It's very cool and fits in well with the rustic aesthetics of the beach town. During the fall, it's very eventful in Cambria and the scarecrows are a great way to get in the autumn mood. Here are some of the photos that I took of the scarecrows.
Cambria Scarecrow Pictures Cambria Scarecrows

To get to a main area with scarecrows, we put in the famous Linn's Restaurant restaurant and it was the perfect point to find parking nearby. They are regular participants and you can expect to see a scarecrow in front of the business for October in Cambria. Address suggestion for GPS: 2277 Main St Cambria, CA 93428

Robin's Restaurant in Cambria

A very popular restaurant in Cambria is called Robin's Restaurant because of their ambiance and amazing quality of food. Located in Cambria, this restaurant has a large beautiful patio area for seating. Their food is fantastic! We enjoyed a nice lunch together here as a family. See more pictures that I took at Robin's Restaurant in Cambria.
Robin's Restaurant Picture
Robin's Restaurant Address: 4095 Burton Dr, Cambria, CA 93428

Cambria Pines Lodge

Besides enjoying the ocean and quieter beach town, many come to Cambria to stay at the Cambria Pines Lodge during the holiday season and enjoy walk a through special Christmas Lights around the holidays (as mentioned above) or dine at their restaurant for special occasions or Sunday brunches. On their property is a large nursery and a gift shop named Yellow House Gift & Antique Shop that you'll see past the garden area. They are all worth checking out and are open year-round. Here is an instagram reel from my visit at Cambria Pines Lodge's Yellow House Gift & Antique Shop.

Moreover, you can buy Christmas ornaments year-round from this gift shop. The garden and nursery is great place to stroll through and buy plants for your garden. I saw koi fishes in their pond when I was there.

See my video clip below to see my walk through Cambria's Pines Lodge's Nursery, Zen Garden and large gift shop. It's free to visit their gardens, year-round.

Here's a short video of my walk through millions of Christmas lights at Cambria Pines Lodge during the Christmas season.

Restaurant at Cambria Pines Lodge

Every Sunday at Cambria Pines Lodge is a special brunch day at their restaurant. They also have a brunch buffet for special occasions as well, like Mother's Day. We enjoyed a celebration here on Mother's Day before and enjoyed their offerings and complimentary glass of mimosa (for adults 21 years old and older).

Brunch at Cambria Pines Lodge

(Picture of my buffet plate at Cambria Pines Lodge is above. Video reel on my instagram of the Yellow House Gift Shop and Nursery that the Cambria Pines Lodge owns is below.)

Linn's Restaurant

Linn's is the most famous restaurant in Cambria, California because their company is famous for their jarred Olallieberry Preserves. I've tried their preserves way before I got a change to visit their restaurant, which seems so silly to me. I live in San Luis Obispo County and Cambria is part of my county but still a good 40 minute drive away from where I live. The restaurant attracts many tourists from outside the area because of their unique preserves and delicious desserts. At Linn's Restaurant, I had their fish and chips from their lunch menu while my husband ordered some breakfast from their breakfast menu. Both were both delicious and made with fantastic quality.
Linn's Restaurant Cambria Picture
You can order their wonderful desserts while you dine there or just walk in and order from their bakery counter for a quick pick up. Address: 2277 Main St, Cambria, CA 93428

List of SLO Beaches

San Luis Obispo (SLO) Beaches boasts some of the most beautiful beaches along the coastalHWY 1 and they include the following beaches below.

South Part of San Luis Obispo County

Pismo Beach

Grover Beach

Oceano

Avila Beach

North Part of San Luis Obispo County

Morro Bay

Cayucos

San Simeon

Cambria (current page)

Montana de Oro

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